Jessica Simpson Slams Natalie Portman Over Virginity Comments

The 38-year-old fashion designer had some choice words for Natalie Portman after the 37-year-old Oscar-winning actress shamed her for wearing a bikini while claiming to be a virgin on a magazine cover nearly 20 years ago. "I remember being a teenager, and there was Jessica Simpson on the cover of a magazine saying 'I'm a virgin' while wearing a bikini, and I was confused," Natalie said in an interview with USA Today, published on Tuesday (December 4). "Like, I don't know what this is trying to tell me as a woman, as a girl."

Jessica, who waited to have sex until she was married to her first husband Nick Lachey in 2002, responded to the actress' comments on Twitter Wednesday (December 5). "@Natalieportman- I was disappointed this morning when I read that I 'confused' you by wearing a bikini in a published photo taken of me when I was still a virgin in 1999. As public figures, we both know our image is not totally in our control at all times, and that the industry we work in often tries to define us and box us in," she wrote. "However, I was taught to be myself and honor the different ways all women express themselves, which is why I believed then- and I believe now- that being sexy in a bikini and being proud of my body are not synonymous with having sex."

"I have always embraced being a role model to all women to let them know that they can look however they want, wear whatever they want and have sex or not have sex with whomever they want," Jessica continued. "The power lies within us as individuals. I have made it my practice to not shame other women for their choices. In this era of Time's Up and all the great work you have done for women, I encourage you to do the same."